Friday, February 27, 2009

Handspun Friday and Venus of Willendorf

Tell me, how could I NOT knit this girl ( Venus of Willendorf Images ), after I found this pattern? The original Venus of Willendorf was found 1908 in Austria, and was made of limestone. You can read more about her here.

I really wanted for my Venus to look like stone, and I wanted to use rustic looking handspun for her, to make her extra special. I had some light grey Coopworth in my fiber stash, it must have been one of the first fiber packages I ever bought in 2007. Nasty stuff, as it turned out. Not well prepared at all, but I got enough yarn out of it, to knit my giant Big Momma Venus! I modified her head a little, to look more like the real one.

yarn: handspun "Silver Dollar", 3-ply, (spun this about a year ago, and had it left over from my dad's birthday scarf;

needles: 2.75mm DP

size: of the little ones: 6" high, 4.5" wide

start-finish: Feb. 19-20 (was kind of obsessed and made 3 in two days)

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The little ones are meant as "Good Luck" charms for my family. :o) I'm keeping the big one for myself.

Fiber: Gemini Fibers, bought in 2007, my first fiber bought for spinning, I was looking for the cheapest fiber so I could practice spinning on my spindle; thankfully I didn't bother with it too much and moved on to better fiber, because I would not have continued spinning, and given up on it, because it was so frustrating to spin. A lot of veggetable matter and nibs. I think this fiber, prepared better would not be so bad at all.

Content: light grey Coopworth

Weight: 200g

yardage: I wanted to spin it thicker as normal for me, and filled one bobbin; it was a disaster, kept it as singles; tried again and made 2 skeins 71yds each

Oh Monica - I love your little venus. She looks much better in your grey than the green - please don't tell the author I said that. I am going to go straight over to Etsy and buy the pattern. You picked the best yarn for it too. And I like the idea of the little ones as charms for the family. Clever girl!

So nice for both you and your family. You are my afghan/blanket guru, so when you knit other projects and spin, it reminds me how talented you are. Dare I say I am getting the itch to crochet? Hairpin Lace. Tunisian. Have to have a back up plan.

These are so awesome. I was thinking of making something like this a week ago, and I appreciate the link to the pattern! I don't know how I found your blog, but going to check back again. Your work is great!

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About Me

I live in Canada now, but I'm originally from Austria.
My White Shepherd Happy, and Denny the mutt, are my constant companions. Maggie is my sons dog, but she's with me most of the day. I have two grown kids too ;o) by the way.